Lucas Blackstone
Explorer
Monsters can be any alignment as per the Monster Manual alignment section. I just happen to like red dragons the most. Any dragon that is normally evil would be an amusing enough surprise in my book.
-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
D&D 5E Which Dragon should I choose?
- Thread starter Herosmith14
- Start date
Monsters can be any alignment as per the Monster Manual alignment section. I just happen to like red dragons the most. Any dragon that is normally evil would be an amusing enough surprise in my book.
Ath-kethin
Elder Thing
Actually, this suggestion could work pretty well. Who has actually seen the Dragon?
If the group is large enough and has been around long enough, probably not many people. And since a faerie dragon changes color as it ages, rumors could abound that the group's founder is any number of colors - black, green, red, blue, even purple. Nobody knows for sure.
And nobody would believe you if you told them the truth.
Herosmith14
First Post
Mischief is actually part of the reason I ruled out copper.
Blue Dragon hands down, yes it's lawful evil but the lawful part works into your advantage. It ensures the mercenaries will honor their deals, helping who pays without having to worry about them turning on the party that hired them. Add to that, Blue Dragons covet valuable and talented creatures as described in the MM, a mercenary band would make for a fine method to find such individuals and have them rise in the ranks.
In the same entry, it mentions how Blue Dragons are extremely protective of their lair and keep it secret to even most of their trusted inner circle, allowing the reveal of a dragon leader to be a surprise for even the higher ranked npc's in the group. In addition to the free 'recruitment' and 'filtering' of weak/strong creatures the mercenary group provides the dragon, it also gets a constant source of gold that only increases the more talented/strong the group becomes.
Finaly, the pride and vanity of the Blue Dragon could explain why the group only accepts those with some connection to dragons, seeing other creatures as too inferior to be worth its attention
I do suggest either straight up giving the dragon the shapeshift ability of the metalic dragons or using the variant rule for dragons as innate spellcasters so it can use the shapeshift spell to walk around without revealing its true nature.
In the same entry, it mentions how Blue Dragons are extremely protective of their lair and keep it secret to even most of their trusted inner circle, allowing the reveal of a dragon leader to be a surprise for even the higher ranked npc's in the group. In addition to the free 'recruitment' and 'filtering' of weak/strong creatures the mercenary group provides the dragon, it also gets a constant source of gold that only increases the more talented/strong the group becomes.
Finaly, the pride and vanity of the Blue Dragon could explain why the group only accepts those with some connection to dragons, seeing other creatures as too inferior to be worth its attention
I do suggest either straight up giving the dragon the shapeshift ability of the metalic dragons or using the variant rule for dragons as innate spellcasters so it can use the shapeshift spell to walk around without revealing its true nature.
It may also favor illusion spells, not just for concealing its identity (using a spell to create an illusory humanoid leader, as needed) but for tactically concealing its position in battle. I once had a red dragon caster make an illusion of itself beginning a strafing run on the party coming from the North.
They were 100% fooled by it actually strafing them from the South...
They were 100% fooled by it actually strafing them from the South...
If you're so rigid in your thinking of dragons that any dragon that's CG must be just like a brass dragon then, no, don't choose a CG Red Dragon.
Here's another possibility: Lawful Neutral Crystalline Dragon. They are very smart (Int 17-18) and very serious and orderly. It might be just the thing to run a mercenary company that is organized but isn't as concerned with what its employer wants. That might fit Lawful Neutral well enough. Only downside is that they like to live in cold and are really, really big in their older age categories.
Satyrn
First Post
If I'm going by the game's fiction, Brass and Green dragons are my favorite choices. They're both described as interested and active in humanoid activities. Brass dragons would totally do this sort of thing just for the interaction and entertainment they'd get.
And I could see a Green Dragon doing this as a business endeavour. He'd be fine with them doing good because it keeps the humanoid societies out of his hair, which means the wealth can keep rolling in. It only needs to be one branch of his many schemes. And maybe part of the scheme has him "firing" the more evil mercenaries out of this organization, but in reality he's just shuffling them to another outfit that he uses for his more nefarious doings.
And I could see a Green Dragon doing this as a business endeavour. He'd be fine with them doing good because it keeps the humanoid societies out of his hair, which means the wealth can keep rolling in. It only needs to be one branch of his many schemes. And maybe part of the scheme has him "firing" the more evil mercenaries out of this organization, but in reality he's just shuffling them to another outfit that he uses for his more nefarious doings.
Satyrn
First Post
Oh, and I don't know if you're set on the "dragonic heritage only" policy requirement being based on prejudice.
But I can think of at least one reason the policy can exist without that; without being rooted in a negative sort of prejudice, at least: If, say, the dragon has founded this organization because he feels that dragonkind owes an obligation to serve the needs of humanoids in some fashion. Atonement for historic misdeeds, some long forgotten debt of service or anything of that sort would explain it.
But I can think of at least one reason the policy can exist without that; without being rooted in a negative sort of prejudice, at least: If, say, the dragon has founded this organization because he feels that dragonkind owes an obligation to serve the needs of humanoids in some fashion. Atonement for historic misdeeds, some long forgotten debt of service or anything of that sort would explain it.
